


A Comedy of Cubicles

by Erulisse17



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, F/M, Reylo RomCom, Rose and Rey are BFFs, Scheming Best Friends, When Valentine's Gifts Go Astray
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22702819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erulisse17/pseuds/Erulisse17
Summary: New couple Rose and Finn are trying to make their first Valentine’s day special by secretly sending each other gifts, but grow increasingly resentful as not a word of acknowledgment is received. Meanwhile, their co-workers Ben and Rey are inundated with flowers and chocolates from their ‘not-so-secret admirers’, but have no clue who could be sending them.orThe Reylo Valentine's Day RomCom plot bunny that bit me HARD
Relationships: Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Finn/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron & Finn, Rey & Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 44
Kudos: 278
Collections: Valentine's Day Collection





	1. Gifts Gone Astray

“Well?” Rey asked excitedly, peeking over the cubicle wall. “What did he say?”

Rose laughed as she spun in her chair. “Rey, it hasn’t even been delivered yet. Contain yourself.”

“Look, as the token single friend, I need to live vicariously through your adorable relationship. Just keep me posted.”

“I will! I promise! Besides, that is some damn good chocolate. He better say thank you.”

“I’m sure he will be falling all over himself with how he has the most amazing girlfriend ev-” Rey stopped as a huge bouquet of roses floated through the cubicle farm, coming to a stop in front of her open doorway.

“Cubicle 1138?” A disembodied voice asked.

Rey blinked. “Yes?”

“Great.” The flowers shifted off of the mail cart and were carefully shoved onto a corner of her desk, revealing a worn-looking Mitaka. “Here you go.”

“Um…” Rey started, looking between the giant arrangement and the mail clerk. “Are you sure?”

Sighing, he dug through the roses and pulled out a white card. “Are you cubicle 1138?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“Then I’m sure. Have a good day.”

Rose scooted out of her cube. “Is there anything for me? Cubicle 1137?”

He poked through the office mail and checked the one other vase of flowers. “Nope.”

Pushing his mail cart with tired purpose, Mitaka walked away before either of them could ask anything else, leaving both girls to stare incredulously at the collection of pink roses on Rey’s desk.

She prodded one of the pink flowers cautiously. “This has got to be a mistake,” she glanced at Rose for confirmation. “Right?”

“What does the card say?”

Nearly smacking her head in realization, Rey pulled the nondescript card out of the envelope. “Your joy and happiness bring such light and hope to those around you,” she read with a confused frown. “Your smile and laugh brighten my day, and make the worst storms a little easier to weather. From, your Not-So-Secret Admirer.”

Handing the card over at Rose’s insistent wave, Rey shrugged her shoulders. “Well, that’s no help.”

“Au contraire!” Rose waggled a finger. “The fact that they compliment your smile and laugh means that they’ve seen and heard you.”

“That narrows it down to… everyone I’ve ever passed on the street.”

Her friend narrowed her eyes. “Have you been flirting with someone you haven’t told me about?”

“Of course not! I don’t have time for dating right now! My hands are full trying to keep up with the two books I’m copy-editing, the pile of submissions I still need to read, plus the novel Hux wants me to write press releases for so he stops rage-emailing me at 3 am.”

Heaving a long sigh, Rose rolled back to her desk. “Alright, fine. But if you do start dating anyone, you have to tell me.”

“Not that that’s ever going to happen, but yes, I promise I will tell you.”

…

“...And then I thought, wow, is this really happening?”

“Uh-huh.”

Poe frowned, then continued, “And so she asked to take a look at all of our confidential files, and I said, ‘You look trustworthy. Go on ahead!”

“Uh-huh. Sounds good.” Finn hummed, pulling down the notification bar one more time.

“Finn, that is the fifth time you have checked your phone in thirty seconds and you’re not even pretending to listen to me. What’s going on?”

“Sorry, sorry. I just… I sent Rose a bunch of flowers, and they should have been delivered by now, but I haven’t heard anything from her. Do you think she got them yet?”

“Wow. Give the girl some space. Don’t be needy.”

Nodding to himself, Finn shoved his phone back into his pocket. “You’re right. I don’t need to be thanked for doing my boyfriend-ly duty. I wanted to send her flowers, I sent her flowers, I’m just gonna back off now.”

Poe smiled as he clapped him on the back. “Atta boy. If there’s one thing girls hate it’s…”

He trailed off as their secretary carried a basket of chocolates towards the glass-walled office to their left.

“Mr. Solo?” Kaydel called as she knocked on the door, earning her a customary scowl, followed by a surprised stare at the large basket in her arms.

“What. Is  _ that.” _

“You have a delivery,” she responded with a cheeky grin, settling the goodies on his desk. “From a secret admirer.”

His glower deepened. “Wrong office.”

Pulling off the taped card, she read aloud, “To Mr. S, Resistance Publishing, Legal Department, Office 221B.” Smirking a little, she replaced the card and pulled his door open. “Happy Almost Valentine’s Day!”

“That’s not a real holiday!” He growled back, then frowned at the basket as Poe and Finn poked their heads in.

“What. The actual. Hell,” Finn remarked as he sorted through the collection of sweets.

“My thoughts exactly,” Ben muttered in response.

Poe grabbed the card. “Who’s it from?”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s obviously a mistake.”

Rolling his eyes, Poe flipped open the white bit of paper. “To the handsomest guy in Legal, here’s hoping to add a bit of sweetness to your day. From R.” Furrowing his brow, he looked up and remarked in an offended tone, “Hey!”

“Man,” Finn sighed as he poked through the collection. “Ghirardelli chocolates are my favorite.”

“Take it,” Ben told him, already focused back on his computer. “I’m not going to eat them. They’re obviously not meant for me.”

Poe snatched the basket and clutched it possessively. “Clearly!”

As they made their way back to their offices, Finn pulled out his phone one more time. “Still nothing! Should I be worried?”

Shoveling Reese’s Pieces into his mouth, Poe shook his head. “Nah. I’m sure everything’s fine.”

…

“I’m going to murder him,” Rose announced as Mitaka dropped by Rey’s desk the next morning with an assortment of different flavored teas.

“Rose, please, I’m sure he’s working on something super big and special for you. Just because Mitaka is clearly reading the numbers wrong-”

“I am not!”

“-does not mean you should be mad at Finn.”

Forcing herself to breathe, Rose unclenched her fists. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sure he’ll have his act together by actual Valentine’s Day.”

“Exactly!” Rey nodded, then opened the small attached card. “Besides the fact that whoever is mistakenly sending these is just an overachiever.”

Peering over her shoulder, Rose asked, “What’s it say?”

“Like tea, character is proven when dealing with hot water. Your kindness and strength in the face of challenges add to your outer and inner beauty. From, Your Not-So-Secret Admirer.”

“Damn,” Rose muttered. “That’s really thoughtful.”

“If they were actually thoughtful, they’d give me a name.”

Tapping her chin, Rose hummed pensively. “You know who it could be?”

“Hm?”

“That grumpy guy in Legal.”

“What grumpy guy in- Ben Solo?! Absolutely not!”

“I dunno, Poe and Finn say whenever we come visit, he’s always staring at you.”

“Yeah, that’s because when he told me the manuscript I was about to push through to publishing was not, and I quote, ‘legally dissimilar enough from the mysteriously popular consumerist drivel known as  _ Harry Potter _ ’, I told him to get off his damn high horse because he couldn’t recognize a universally appealing narrative if it punched him in the face.”

Rose blinked. “Yeah, I suppose that might do it.”

“Trust me,” Rey shook her head as she sniffed the lavender earl grey packet approvingly, “even if he was the last guy on earth, Ben Solo wouldn’t even be remotely interested in me.”

…

Ben Solo stared at his computer screen with a growing look of irritation. There were far too many women at this company whose names started with ‘R’. Not that he actually cared about receiving gifts, but the pragmatic side of him wanted to know who was sending these things so he could redirect them to their intended recipient or nip any vague idea of courtship in the bud.

Although there were no rules against employees dating, the last thing he wanted was for some thwarted admirer to take her sob story to HR and involve him in hours of tedious meetings and sensitivity seminars. He had enough to deal with on a day-to-day basis besides treading around potential spurned advances.

Sighing, he scrolled aimlessly through the company directory, wondering if he could get someone in accounting to tell him who was married or not, when he paused on a profile picture of a young woman with a bright smile, sparkling eyes, and her chestnut hair pulled up into three buns. 

‘Rey Niima’ declared the directory, although he already knew her name. He had researched - okay,  _ slightly  _ stalked - her on the company website after her impassioned series of insults to his lack of creative insight echoed in his head for the hundredth time.

She had come from nothing. No prestigious school or influential parents had helped her get a job at Resistance Publishing. Her personality and resume had gotten her a part-time copy editor job, and her perseverance and work ethic had done the rest, vaulting her to a full-time editor responsible for picking out some of their most lucrative manuscripts. Either she didn’t know his mother was the owner of the publishing house, or she didn’t care. Both options intrigued him in a way he wasn’t sure how to deal with.

One certainly couldn’t just tell a girl, “Yes, hello, I appreciated you yelling at me for being an ass, how about we get dinner and possibly not insult each other?”

Rubbing his hands across his face, he closed the tab quickly as Kaydel tapped on his door with a wide grin.

“No,” he commanded, pointing at the tray of succulents and the attached white card.

“Look, it has a zen garden too!” She cooed, then winked. “You could definitely use it.”

Narrowing his eyes, he growled, “Are these from you? Did someone put you up to this?”

“I promise, boss, I have nothing to do with it. I am but a humble messenger of love.”

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Ew.”

As Kaydel left, he pulled open the card with an air of annoyance. 

“To add some peace to your chaotic workplace, draw a circle in the sand as unending as my love. Yours, R.”

After picking up the ridiculously tiny rake, he absent-mindedly moved it in the sand, surprised to find an odd sense of calm in matching up the series of curving lines. 

_ ‘Unending love’ _ , he scoffed silently. As if that was a real thing. 

…

“Oh God, I love food so much!” Rey nearly shouted as she attacked the Edible Arrangements of fruit and chocolate Mitaka was gingerly holding out.

“Slow down, girl! You’ll impale yourself on a stick!” Rose told her, plucking a strawberry out of the collection. 

“Mm. If I die, at least it was doing what I love. Eating.”

Rose stared forlornly at the pineapple star until Rey handed it to her. 

“Man, I love chocolate-covered fruit,” she pouted. “Wish I had gotten some. Or anything.”

“Oh my  _ God. _ Okay, get up, let’s go,” Rey pushed her out of the cubicle and towards the elevator.

“What are you doing? Where are we going?”

“We are going up to Legal. You can take a look at his desk to see if it’s there, or, heaven forbid, ask him like an actual adult.”

Rose hung her head a little as Rey pressed the ‘elevator close’ button.

“I just… our anniversary is coming up, and I don’t want it to feel like I’m pressuring him? I want the gifts and stuff to be fun and spontaneous, and it’s not like he has to get me gifts because I got him gifts, but I’d like him to  _ want  _ to want to get me things. Does that make sense?”

Rey attempted a smile. “Yes?”

Dropping her shoulders, Rose heaved a loud sigh. “Nevermind. It’s probably just me being crazy. I know he cares about me, and that should be enough. But I kinda want some… sign that he cares, you know? Is that shallow?”

“Not at all! You’re putting in a lot of effort to show you care, and you’d like him to do the same, without it being an obligation.”

“Exactly!”

_ “But,” _ she added as the elevator slowed, “I still think you should talk to him.”

“I know, I know. Maybe I will.”

“Good. You go talk, I’m going to snag some of Legal’s amazing coffee.”

Making a beeline to the common area, Rey squealed in delight at the shiny espresso machine at the coffee bar. 

“Come to mama,” she sang as she made herself a latte, adding just the right amount of cream and sugar before turning around and running smack into a broad, black shirt.

“Oh my God, I am so-”

“Watch where you’re g-”

Rey froze, then glanced up and up until she was staring directly at Ben Solo’s suddenly pale face.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded, taking a step back and wiping at the single dark spot on his shirt.

About to hand him a paper towel, Rey frowned at his words. “I’m here to see my friends. Last I checked, that was allowed.”

Grabbing her proffered napkins, he winced as he dabbed at the stain. “No, I didn’t- I mean, you can be… here.”

Rey raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Oh. Thank you for your kind permission.”

“I didn’t mean- I just-” he stumbled, then ended in an exasperated tone. “It’s fine.”

“Is it? I’m so glad to hear. Now if you’ll excuse me, Your Majesty.”

She got to the door before a nearly panicked “Wait!” rang out across the room.

Turning expectantly, she watched him fumble for a moment. “I… What I meant was… That sounded…”

“I’m sorry.”

He blinked at her. “What?”

“The words you’re looking for right now. They’re ‘I’m’ and ‘sorry’, combined into a single phrase. It’s customary to use this phrase when one regrets behaving like an ass.”

His posture stiffened. “Like you did in January? I don’t recall you using those words then.”

Eyes flashing, Rey marched forward. “That’s because I don’t regret any bit of that. You were being pretentious and judgemental and it was affecting your professional viewpoint.”

“I didn’t know you cared about my professionalism.”

“I don’t. I do care about the authors that put their time and energy and heart into creating stories only to be shot down by a lawyer who thinks white men complaining about women who rejected them is the highest form of literature.”

Furrowing his dark brows, he sneered, “You got all that from a single manuscript rejection? One wonders what you could assume about me given actual information.”

“As if I’d want to know anything about you.”

“Clearly. You’ve already concocted my entire life story to fit your unflattering views. I hope you don’t bring this sort of bias into your work.”

“Into my work? How dare-”

Before Rey could release the full force of her indignation, Rose marched in, grabbed her hand, and stormed out. “We need to go.”

“But I-”

“Should you wish to add any facts to your conjecturing, Miss Niima, you know where to find me.”

Rey was about to lift her hand to make an obscene gesture when Rose shoved her into the elevator. Once she actually looked at her friend, Rey touched her on the shoulder and asked, “Are you alright?”

“He got them!” She shouted, and Rey blinked at her. 

“Gonna need a little more context than that.”

“I saw piles of chocolate wrappers from the goodies I sent in his and Poe’s trash cans, and the basket was just sitting in the corner of Finn’s office! So he’s clearly been getting the gifts, and has just decided that I don’t need any kind of ‘thank you’ or acknowledgment or anything.” Letting out a frustrated growl, the petite girl crossed her arms and leaned against the steel wall. “Men are the worst.”

Sighing, Rey glanced at the closed elevator doors. “Trust me. I know.”

…

“For the  _ love  _ of  _ God _ ,” Rose yelled, throwing her hands in the air as Mitaka cautiously held out a pink teddy bear hugging a super soft blanket and a bottle of wine.

Rey refused to look away from her screen. “Give it to her,” she motioned.

“No! I do not need pity gifts! I can get real, non-pathetic gifts from my actual live boyfriend. Although at this rate, he’s not gonna be my boyfriend - or alive - for much longer.”

Tilting her head around, Rey gave a sympathetic smile. “You really want it, don’t you?”

“Yes I do!” Rose glowered, then snatched the large bear out of Mitaka’s hands. “Let’s see what your wanna-be boyfriend has to say.”

“Whoever he is, I can guarantee he is  _ not  _ Ben Solo. That man cannot stand me, and believe me when I say the feeling is mutual.”

Ripping open the envelope, Rose read, “To R, seeing you is like experiencing ultimate comfort. Your warmth and smile bring solace and serenity wherever you go. Your Not-So-Secret Admirer.”

Wrinkling her nose, she chucked the card on Rey’s desk. “He’s so damn romantic it makes me sick.”

“Again, this is definitely a mistake.”

“Um, your cubicle number and name is on the card.”

“Initial! How many women at this company have names beginning with R? I’m sure at least a hundred, yourself included.”

“Whatever,” Rose mumbled, checking out the bottle of red wine. “What are company rules about drinking on the job?”

“Rose, it is ten in the morning. Wait until after lunch. Speaking of, I’m heading to the conference room.”

Looking up with a frown, Rose asked, “Why? There’s no meetings scheduled today.”

“Oh, not our conference room. The one on the twelfth floor. They have their quarterly accounting meeting today, which means free pastries!”

“How on earth do you know the location of free food on any given day?”

“The real question is, how do you not?” Rey replied, tapping the side of her nose and skipping off to the upper level.

…

As Ben closed his Google search page and left his office, parts of Finn and Poe’s never-ceasing conversation drifted out to him.

“... you asked why?”

“Of course I asked! She said everything was fine, and then I asked again and she nearly bit my head off! It’s like, her words say she’s fine, but everything else about her says she’s not.”

“Could always just say that,” Ben mumbled as he walked past.

“What?”

He stopped to see Finn and Poe staring at him in surprise.

“Nothing.”

“No, man, please. I’m desperate,” Finn begged, and Ben found himself moving a little closer to the door. “I’ve been sending Rose a gift every day, leading up to a fancy dinner tomorrow, but I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d think sending her all these gifts is making her more angry!”

“Just… tell her that.”

“Didn’t you hear? I did!”

“No, don’t ask if she’s fine. Tell her what you’re observing. That she says she’s okay, but her tone and physicality are saying she’s not, and you’re not sure which one to believe.”

Both men blinked at him. “Huh. That’s actually pretty good advice,” Poe remarked.

“No need to sound so shocked,” he muttered, checking his watch and making his way to the twelfth floor, leaving the pair to continue their discussion behind him.

As he arrived, he made his way to the refreshment table, mentally preparing himself for another mind-numbing meeting when someone accidentally bumped the tower of cups, sending the whole collection careening to the ground until he shoved it back in place.

“Great reflexes! Thank-” A smiling brunette told him, then her mouth transformed into a pressed, straight line.

It was Rey. Dear God, was she haunting him?

“What are you doing here?” He asked, before wincing as he realized he had already made this particular blunder the day before.

“What, are you tracking my movements now? Are alarms about to go off since I’m outside my designated area?” She snarked, and he couldn’t help stare at the beautiful fire in her eyes as she glared at him.

“No, no, I just…” Trying to course correct, he took a breath, then asked, “Are you part of the accounting meeting?”

“Oh.” Her tone shifted from defensive to chagrined. “Um, not really.”

His gaze drifted down to her overflowing plate of pastries. “Are you just here for the food?” 

That stubborn lift to her chin was back. “And what if I am? Are you going to report me?”

He suppressed his instinctive response with monumental effort, forced his shoulders to relax, then tried, “I was simply trying to find out what brought you to this most boring of meetings. But I understand that my tone may have added an element of… disapproval that I did not intend.”

She thought about that for a moment, then peered at him from under her long lashes and asked, “Was that an attempt at an apology?”

“Perhaps.”

“Wow.” Her grin was beginning to look more amused than vicious. “You’re pretty bad at this.”

“I thought it was an admirable effort.”

“No. Four out of ten. At best.”

His eyebrows shot up. “A four? At best? How tough are these apology judges?”

“Extremely so,” she answered, her fawn eyes twinkling. “It’s a group of British noble ladies, all sipping tea out of porcelain cups with giant hats.”

“They sound formidable.”

“Oh, they are.” she nodded solemnly. “They give ones to the ‘I’m sorry you’re offended’ non-apologies, and tens are exceptionally rare, involving groveling, poetry, chocolates, and some very sparkly jewelry.”

“Well, that’s no wonder they’re so rare. They sound quite expensive.” He deadpanned, and watched in fascination as her whole face was transformed by the strength of her smile. Trying to keep his focus and apply some of the methods he had read about, he made direct eye contact and did his best not to mumble, “I am sorry, by the way.”

Rey stared at him, eyes wide, lips parted, brows drawn together in confusion.

“For the other day. I was… surprised by your presence and did not handle our conversation with… tact.”

Tilting her head at him, she tapped her chin for a moment, then replied, “Alright, that’s a six.”

“A six? I said ‘I’m sorry’, I offered an explanation, I think that’d be worth a seven at least,” he protested.

“The words were there, but the execution was a bit clumsy. You’re improving though. Take the win.”

Ben was interrupted from replying by Phasma coughing significantly at the both of them before gesturing at the rest of the filled table.

“Wrong meeting!” Rey whispered, then started for the door with her collection of food. She sent Ben a small wave and mouthed, “Til your next apology.”

“Or yours,” he jibed back, earning him a mock gape as she wrinkled her nose adorably at him, then closed the door behind her, leaving an odd sensation in Ben’s chest that might not have been from the cheap coffee.

…

“So, um, babe.” Finn started, fingers hovering uncertainly over the play button to the next episode of Great British Bake Off. “Is there… something you’d like to talk about?”

“Nope.” Rose answered shortly, crossing her arms.

Swallowing, he mustered his courage. “It’s just… you say that, but your tone and whole body says you’re mad at me, and I’d really like to understand why. Is it about the gifts?”

“Of course it’s about the gifts!” Rose exploded. “I mean, I probably got my hopes up and set my expectations way too high, but the fact that I sent you something every day this week, and didn’t even get a ‘thank you’ or anything just feels incredibly hurtful. And obviously I didn’t send you stuff just so I could get stuff, I did it because I love you, but a part of me definitely thought that you’d get me at least something and-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Finn held both of his hands up. “Hold up. I did send you something! Several somethings! One every day!”

Suddenly halting her tirade, Rose blinked at him. “You did?”

“Of course! It’s almost our anniversary, I wanted to make sure it was really special.”

“That’s what I wanted too!”

Finn stared. “But I didn’t get anything from you.”

“Yes, you did! And I  _ know  _ you got them because I saw the chocolate bar wrappers all over your trash can!”

“What? No, that was because Ben didn’t…” His words slowed as the realization set in, “want the basket that was sent to him.”

“What?”

“What office did you send it to?”

“Your office. 221B.”

Biting back a smile, he shook his head. “Babe, we switched offices months ago. That’s Ben’s.”

“You mean I’ve been sending all those gifts and love notes to Ben Solo?!” She nearly shrieked as Finn nodded.

“Wait, who’s been getting my presents then? The roses and tea and stuff?”

Rose clapped her hand over her mouth. “That was you?!”

“Of course!”

“You’re the super romantic boyfriend,” Rose winced and closed her eyes.

“Thanks? Wait, who’s been getting the super sappy words I spent hours on?”

“Rey.”

“Rey?! She’s like my sister! God, I must have written your cube number down wrong! I swear I double-checked last time I brought you coffee. I can see it on the top right corner of that awful carpet wall.”

Rose bit her lip in amusement. “The numbers are to the left of the openings, not right.”

Holding his head in his hands, Finn groaned. “Oh God, I’ve been sending Rey all kinds of romantic-” He paused, then looked up. “Wait. Does she know it was from me?”

“Not a clue! We’ve been trying to guess who, and I kept telling her it was Ben, since you said that he’s always staring at her when we visit-”

“Babe! This is perfect!”

“How, exactly?”

“Because he definitely has a giant crush on her.”

“What? How do you know? She said she yelled at him back in January, and then again the other day when we came to see you.”

“So you know how we have glass walls? He’s angled his computer screen so that it doesn’t reflect behind him, but it’s directly in my line of vision. It’s not really an issue, because all he does is work, but lately, he’s been staring at Rey’s company profile, then switching to a blank email, then switching back. And then the other day, he was googling things like ‘how to talk to girls’, ‘how to talk to girls when yelling’, ‘how to talk when girl is yelling’, ‘ways to stop sounding judgemental’, stuff like that.”

“Oh. My.  _ God. _ He does have a crush on her! Okay, and come to think of it, when she came back from stealing pastries from accounting, she was humming Disney songs and zoning out all day, and I swear at one point she had Ben’s company profile up too?”

“Wouldn’t that be hilarious?” Finn asked, before his face fell a bit. “I’m sorry, babe, I should’ve just asked if you got the flowers. It must have been really awful watching someone else get stuff while you felt ignored.”

“I’m sorry too. I should have said something, but I wanted to be fun and spontaneous, and I thought if I asked, it’d ruin the magic somehow?”

“Totally understandable. I’ll forgive you if you forgive me?”

Rose smiled and snuggled into his open arms. “Deal.”

As he leaned down to give her a warm kiss and possibly suggest skipping the Netflix and going straight to the chill, Rose suddenly gasped and sat straight up.

  
“I just had the  _ best  _ idea.”


	2. Affections Gone Aright

Ben sighed and hit the backspace key with unnecessary force. Thinking a moment, he typed ‘jokes about apologies funny’ and glared at the unhelpful misogynistic results about how women never say sorry. ‘How to keep inside joke going’ was equally non-applicable, and he was about to toss the whole desktop out the window when Kaydel knocked on his door.

“No. Please,” he added belatedly.

“It’s part of my job to deliver your packages. All of them,” she told him, unrepentantly cheerful as she set the collection of tiny whiskey bottles in front of him.

“Hm,” he murmured, actually somewhat intrigued by the selection. Opening the card, he read the message once, twice, three times before it started to sink in.

“To Ben, I hope you’ve enjoyed these small tokens this week, and I think it’s time to reveal the mystery. Please meet me at Egeon, at seven tonight. Until then, Your Secret Admirer”

Staring, he finally picked up his phone. “Kaydel, I’m taking off a little early tonight. I have a few errands to run.”

…

  
“Mitaka, I swear, can you _not_ take a hint-”

“Rey, it’s fine. I promise,” Rose smiled as her friend turned towards her.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I realized I was letting the madness of Valentine’s Day just get in my head, and instead of being mad, I could be excited about your secret admirer!”

“Again, I am 90 percent sure that this is misdelivered, but if it makes you happy, I’m glad to play along,” she replied, opening the long black box to reveal a single red rose nestled in a bed of baby’s breath, with a glittering gold hair comb tucked into the black ribbon encircling the flowers.

Dumbstruck, she gaped at the box for a full minute, until Rose plucked the envelope out and held it under her nose. “Still think it’s a mistake?”

Shooting her a glare, Rey took the card and read the inscription. “To Rey, I hope these gifts have brought you some small joy. I would humbly invite you to join me for dinner at Egeon, at seven o’clock tonight. Your Not-So-Secret Admirer.”

As she stared at the black calligraphy, Rose waited for her friend to respond, then asked eagerly, “So? Are you going to go?”

“I don’t know! I don’t even know who this person is, and besides, even if I did, I don’t have anything to wear to Egeon!”

“Perfect! Shopping trip!”

“What? No, I can’t-”

“It is four o’clock on a Friday. And if we’re going to get you ready in time, we have got some work to do. Let’s go!”

After being dragged out of work to the nearby mall, Rey found herself shoved into a dressing room as Rose chucked dress after dress over the stall door.

When she came out in a bright green dress, Rose shook her head and sent her back in. “Too shiny. Next!”

“Rose, I don’t even know what we’re going for here. I don’t want to show up in a fancy gown just to tell some IT guy I’ve never met that his crush is very misguided.”

“Do you actually think it’s a random IT guy?”

“I don’t know what to think! Literally, the only clue I have is ‘Not-So-Secret Admirer’, whatever that means.”

“I mean, is there anyone who you think admires you not-so-secretly?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“What about Ben?”

“Rose, I told you, it can’t be him. Before yesterday, every time we interacted involved some sort of argument.”

“Hey, some people enjoy- Wait. What happened yesterday?”

Pausing in the middle of pulling on a vibrant pink outfit, Rey tried to pass it off casually, “Oh, uh, nothing. We just… had a pleasant conversation for once.”

As she opened the door to show off the dress, Rose pushed her way inside. “What kind of pleasant conversation?”

“A regular conversation! We bumped into each other at that accounting meeting with the pastries and just…talked.” She winced as her voice squeaked a little on the last word.

Raising a delighted eyebrow, Rose asked, “Rey Niima, were you _flirting?”_

“I was _not_ flirting.” She knew there was no actual reason her cheeks should be turning red, but they definitely were.

“Uh-huh. I thought you said you never wanted to speak to anyone that pretentious ever again.”

“Okay, fine, I might have started off a little judgy, but it turns out that once he makes a little effort, he can be kind of… nice.”

Holding out a red off-the-shoulder number, Rose pressed her lips together in a poor attempt to hide her smile. “Hmmmm.”

“What?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all.”

…

Ben checked his watch one more time, then decided showing up twenty minutes early was somewhat less pathetic than sitting alone in his car for nearly half an hour. Adjusting his black tie, he walked into the restaurant and made awkward eye contact with the hostess. 

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Um. I think it’d be for Ben Solo?”

“Let me see here...” The girl checked the computer, then grinned mischievously. “Oh. I see.” Giving him a conspiratorial wink, she grabbed a menu and motioned him forward. “This way.”

Unsettled, he followed her to a table sprinkled with rose petals and a flickering candle. The hostess walked away before he could ask if she knew who had made the reservation or if she had any information he should know about. He scanned the menu, glancing up every time someone passed by, and tried not to fidget.

“Oh.”

Looking up, his jaw dropped at the vision before him. It was Rey, but wearing a stunning deep crimson dress, dark hair cascading in waves with a small twist held up by a gold hair comb tucked in her tresses. He could have spent hours staring, but his eyes were drawn to her mouth, a matching shade of red on her lips as she attempted a small smile.

“Hi,” she greeted quietly, clasping her hands together.

Coming to himself, he shot up from his seat and came around to pull out her seat. 

“Hi,” he murmured back as she sat down.

“Hi.” She winced. “Said that already.” 

He had the oddest feeling that despite sending him personalized gifts for a week and setting up this dinner, she was… nervous?

“I… um. I got you this.” He slid over a white rose, hoping it wasn’t too much, or God, not enough.

Taking the flower, she inhaled deeply, then smiled. “Thank you. You really didn’t have to.”

“Oh, well, I wanted to.” He replied lamely, then grimaced at how stilted he sounded. He was a grown man, not some pimply teenager on a first date. “Especially after all of the things you got me.”

She was nodding along with him until he got to the last part. “Wait. What things?”

“The whiskey and food and zen garden and things.”

“I didn’t send you gifts, you sent me gifts.”

He frowned in confusion. “I didn’t know who you were until just now.”

“But I didn’t know who you were…” Tilting her head, she paused a moment. “Zen garden? That’s so funny, the only other person I know who likes zen gardens is my friend-”

“Champagne for the lovely couple? Courtesy of that lady and gentlemen.”

Both of them stared at the waiter, then turned to see Rose and Finn at a table across the way, waving and grinning deviously at them.

After shooting them both death glares, Rey rubbed her face. “Oh my God. I’m going to kill them.”

“I don’t understand. Why do they look so happy?”

“They set us up. And I think the gifts you got were from Rose.”

“Wait, she sent me… Why?”

“I’m pretty sure she meant them for Finn. Which means that I was getting Rose’s presents after all.” Holding her head in her hands, she groaned. “And then they figured it out, and decided to set us up like the evil Cupids they are.”

“Champagne?” He offered sympathetically. “At least they sent us some booze.”

“Yes, please,” she mumbled gratefully.

“Well, now I don’t have to pretend I liked all the gifts. Or that I didn’t think it was odd receiving things from a mysterious stranger for a whole week.”

“Right? Oh God, I was trying to figure out why on earth you would want to send me anything after I yelled at you like that.”

“Well…” he shrugged, taking a sip of his champagne. “I actually didn’t mind that.”

Her head snapped up. “You didn’t?”

“You were right. And no one’s ever told me so quite so… strongly. Except maybe my mother.”

“I’m sure she could make time, even if she is running the company, if you were wrong enough.”

Ben watched her in surprise. “You know?”

“Of course I know. Everyone knows.”

“But you shouted at me anyway?”

“Well, yeah. What does one have to do with the other?”

Chuckling into his glass, he shook his head. “Apparently nothing.”

Once they ordered, Rey refilled her champagne flute and sighed. “What on earth are we even supposed to talk about?”

“You could tell me about your book.”

Rey promptly choked, sputtering as she tried to catch her breath. “H-how did you know about that?”

“You minored in English, you’re an editor at a publishing house, of course you have your own manuscript.”

“How did you know I minored in English?”

His slice of complimentary bread stopped halfway to his mouth. “I…”

“Did you stalk me?” She teased, her tongue between her teeth.

“No! Your resume is still on file in the company drive. That’s not… technically stalking. I don’t think.”

She pressed her lips together, then burst out laughing. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

Unsure if he should be offended, Ben frowned. “At what?”

“People-ing.”

Raising an eyebrow, he answered, “I hope you don’t allow that sort of made-up word to pass in your work.”

“Oh, totes. All the time. The young authors I work with think I am ‘cool AF’.”

Snorting, the corner of his mouth quirked up before he could stop it, and Rey’s mouth dropped open. 

“Did you just smile?”

“Of course not,” he deadpanned. “That would completely ruin my pretentious reputation.”

A beaming grin transformed her face, and Ben found himself temporarily awestruck.

“You have a nice smile,” she told him softly, and a strange tightness seized his lungs. Before he could fumble for a reply, the waiter appeared with their food, and she fell upon the dinner with great enthusiasm.

“So,” he said in a tone of amusement, once she had finished chewing. “Tell me about your book.”

…

Hours flew by before Rey realized it, and soon she was scraping her plate for any remnants of the molten chocolate left behind.

“Hey guys…” A sheepish voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Finn and Rose wearing matching bashful grins.

“Well, hello there, schemers,” Rey snarked back, gratified they at least had the good grace to look slightly ashamed.

“Hey, at least he’s not some random IT guy!” Rose said, with a thumbs up.

Ben canted his head. “Thank you?”

“We just wanted to let you know we’re about to leave. Do you still want us to drop you off, or…?”

“Oh. Um…”

“I can give you a ride,” Ben offered in a rush, and all three turned to stare at him.

“Really?” Rey asked, unable to hide the hope in her voice.

He met her eyes with his own amber ones. “Yeah.”

A long moment passed between them, until Rose suddenly chirped, “Okay! You guys have fun! Byeeee!” 

As she yanked Finn out the door, Rey gave Ben a roll of her eyes, then tried to reach for the check as the waiter set it down. Moving it out of her way, he dropped his card on it and handed it back before she could say anything.

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“Any time,” he replied, and it strangely sounded like he meant it.

After giving him a teasing look about his all-black Tesla, she got in and changed the radio from NPR to an upbeat pop song, which he gave her a withering look for in return.

“You can’t tell me Taylor Swift doesn’t make you feel happy.”

“Aren’t all of her songs about breakups?”

“See, you’d know that was false if you listened to a single album of hers. ‘Shake It Off’ is my anthem. You have to listen to it. Left up here.”

As he parked in front of her apartment building, he let out a low laugh. “Well, if you insist.”

“In fact, I do,” she informed him with commanding lift of her chin as he opened her door and helped her out. She was not prepared in any way for heat to blaze across her palm as his large, roughed hand enveloped her own. As he pulled her standing, she was suddenly brought very close to his broad chest, her nose nearly brushing his mouth as she instinctively put up a hand to steady herself, the intoxicating scent of his cologne filling her senses.

“Are…” Ben coughed a little, as if he also needed to compose himself, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, forcing herself to take a step back. “Tall heels. Not usually my thing.”

“Well, I think you look beautiful.”

Biting her lip, she peered up at his earnest expression. “Thank you. For dinner, and the ride, and just... all of tonight.”

“Even if I’m not good at people-ing?”

She let a peal of laughter. _“Especially_ because you’re not good at people-ing. I had a really great time tonight.”

“Me too,” he replied, helping her up the stairs to the door. “Surprisingly.”

“Thank you?”

“No, no, I didn’t… I just meant that, I wasn’t expecting… I didn’t know, based on the gifts, who you could be, and I wasn’t sure… But I had hoped maybe it’d be y-”

The rest of his stumbling speech was cut off by Rey suddenly pressing her lips to his, her hands fisted in the lapels of his jacket. As lightning sparked between them, his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer as she shifted her fingers to tangle in his hair. He let out a soft growl as she tugged his head around, savoring his taste and scent and form under her roaming hands, a heady, dream-like sense of joy soaring through her veins.

When they finally broke apart for breath, she bit back a giggle at how dazed he looked, still breathing heavily as he blinked at her, her own heart still racing as she offered him a wide smile.

“I hoped it was you too.”

It took him a full minute before he processed her words. “Oh. You did?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. 

“Well, maybe, next time-”

“Next time?” She asked with a teasing eyebrow, sending him into an immediate panic.

“Not that- I mean, only if you want there to be a-”

“Ben, it’s alright,” she soothed with a grin. “I would very much like there to be a next time.”

“Oh. Good. I just.. I was going to say, maybe next time you get a gift from me, I’ll actually be the one to send it.”

Stepping forward, she murmured, “I’d like that,” and rose up on her tiptoes for a softer, slower kiss.

“Until next time then,” he rumbled, pressing his lips to her forehead before she reluctantly opened the door.

As she slipped inside, he started to head back to his car, unable to hide a growing smile.

Spinning on her heel, she jerked the door back open. “Ben!”

He turned around, eyes finding her in the darkness as she ran out and claimed another kiss.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

His whole face broke into a wide smile, revealing his dimples and how a simple expression could transform his entire being as he leaned his forehead against her own.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”


End file.
